Bow-facing oar.



No. 706,49l, Patented Aug. 5, I902.

n B HANSON BOW FACINGDAR. m n t max 16 1902 (No Model.)

Witt-wanes UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD B. HANSON, OF BUFFALO, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO J. HERBERT DIEHL, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

BOW-FACING OAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 706,491, dated August 5, 1902.

Application filed January 16} 1902, Serial No. 89,989- (No modem T ctZl whom it may concern: Be it known that I, RICHARD B. HANSON, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Buffalo, in the county of Erie, State of New York,"

have invented certain new and useful-Improvements in Bow-Facing Oars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

invention being to provide a construction.

which will be easy of operation, will permit of freedom of movement of the oars,and which may be applied to any boat and as readily removedtherefrom.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood from the following description.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the sev eral views, Figure 1 isa top plan view show ing a portion of a gunwale of a boat with the present invention attached thereto, portions of the ear being broken away. Fig. 2 is-a transverse section'throughone of the clamps on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and lookingin the direction of the gears. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the clamping .or base plate. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of the rocker.

Referring now to the drawings, the present invention includes a base-plate 10, preferably of skeleton form and at each end of which is a clamp including depending spaced ears 11 and 12, adapted to lie at opposite sides of a gunwale, and through one of these cars is formed a threaded perforation 13 for engagement of a clamping-screw 14. On the inner face of the opposite ear or jaw. is formeda rib 15, which is drawn into the material of the gunwale when the screw is turned up and holds the clamp securely in place.

At the central portion of the plate 10 is formed a. cross-sectionally rectangular upwardly-directed box 16, the sides 17 of which lie transversely of the plate, having their upper edges convex to form bearing-faces for the rocker that carries the gears. The rocker in question. is shown at 18 and has a central depending lug19 of segmental shape and which is fitted in the box 16, said rocker having convex bearing-faces 20, extending longitudinally of the rocker at opposite sides of the lug and which in practice rest upon the faces of the sides 17, so that the ends of the rocker may be alternately depressed to give a rocking motion thereto. In the ends .of the rocker are perforations through which are engaged pivot-bolts 21 and 22, on which are pivotally mounted the segmental gears 23 and 24, having rearwardly-extending stems 25 and 26, as shown. The segmental gears mesh, and to hold the upper ends of the pivot-bolts from outward displacement a retaining plate 27 is provided and through the ends of which the pivot-bolts are engaged,

nuts 28 being engaged with the bolts above the retaining plate. Thusif the stem of one gear be movedthe stemof the other'gear will 7 5 movein the same direction longitudinally of the base-plateof the device. To the stems of the gears are connected thehandle and blade portions, respectively, of an oar, the adjacentends of said sections being slotted to receivethe stems of the gears, after which retaining bolts or rivets are passed through the parts to hold them together.

With this construction it will be seen that when the oarsman pulls upon the handle of the car the blade of the oar moves in the same direction instead of in the opposite direction, as is usual, so that the oarsman will face in the direction of movementof his boat. Furthermore, when the handles of the cars are de- 0 pressed the blades of the oars will be raised from the water, as is usual, the rocker having a bearing upon the upper edges or faces of the sides of the box 16, so that there is a minimum of friction.

What is claimed is v 1. A device of the class described comprisin g a base-plate having a boxing thereon provided with upper bearing-faces, a rocker having a lug disposed within the boxing and hav- 10o ing bearing-faces disposed against the correspending faces of the boxing, and intermeshing gears mounted at opposite ends of the rocker andhaving opposite end sections of oars attached thereto.

2. A device of the class described compris ing a base-plate having convex bearing-faces, a rocker having convex bearing-faces disposed against those of the base-plate, means for holding the bearing-faces in mutual operative relation, and gears pivoted at opposite ends of the rocker and intermeshin g, said gears having means for attachment of handle and blade sections of oars thereto, respectively.

3. A device of the class described comprising a base-plate having terminal clamps for engagement with the gunwale of a boat, an

inclosure upon the plate having bearing-faces at its upper edge, a rocker having a depending lug disposed within the inclosure and having convex bearing-faces at the sides thereof resting upon the bearing-faces of the inclosure, and intermeshing gears arranged respectively at opposite ends of the rocker, said gears having means for attachment of oar-sections thereto.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD B. HANSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN P. WANNEMACHER, THOMAS A. CAVANAUGH. 

